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Molly
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
Do you know what is meant (or what was meant) when someone
refers to the Gospel side of the Church?
Molly
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{
Do you know what is meant (or what was meant) by the phrase, the "Gospel side" of
the Church? }
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Richard replied:
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Hi, Molly —
In the old Mass, the Scripture readings were done from different places.
The priest faced the altar and read the Scripture texts from the Missal
sitting on the altar. He and the book would be toward the right side of
the altar (from the people's point of view) for the New Testament Epistle;
and toward the left side for the Gospel. Thus the Gospel side is
the left side.
There was a little meaning behind the gesture. Churches were built facing
east, so when the priest faced east, north would be on the
left. In real life, in the late Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages,
the people living to the north were the pagan barbarians. So proclaiming
the Gospel on the north side was meant as a little gesture
about preaching the Gospel to the heathen.
Thanks for writing!
Best wishes —
Richard Chonak
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Andrea commented on Richard's reply:
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This is for Richard Chonak.
Thanks for the answer on the Gospel Side of the Church. I am reading a book
that takes place in North Carolina and they talk about the Gospel side of the
Church.
Being from California, we don't have a saying like that.
From,
Andrea Morse
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Mary Ann replied:
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Andrea,
The saying used to be universal in the Church before the Second
Vatican Council. For hundreds of years, the Gospel was read from a podium
on the congregation's left, and the epistle was read from a podium on the
congregation's right. The pre-Vatican II Catholic Encyclopedia has an interesting historical note:
| In ceremonials we frequently find mention of the right and left side of
the altar. Before 1488, the epistle side was called the right side of the
altar, and the gospel side the left. In that year, Augustine Patrizi, Bishop
of Pienza, published a ceremonial in which the epistle side is called the
left of the altar, and the gospel side the right, the denomination being
taken from the facing of the cross, the principal ornament of the altar,
not of the priest or the laity. This change of expression was accepted
by St. Pius V and introduced into the rubrics. |
What this means is that what was called right and left changed, not which
side the Gospel was read from. So since 1488, the Gospel side was called the right side, being the right side of the crucifix that faced the people
and the priest, who both faced the altar.
Sometimes I miss those good
old days.
Mary Ann
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